Paladin Blake

Paladin Blake is easily one of the most recognized and widely-respected aviators in North America. Blake is considered to be the founding father of the modern aviation security business. In the late 1920s, Blake — then a Pinkerton's operative — was brilliant enough to see the coming boom in aviation, and immediately moved to capitalize on his insight, founding Blake Aviation Security.

The move was natural; Blake despises pirates and criminals and he had a natural aptitude for flying. His charm and charisma allowed him to attract lucrative contracts and today, BAS is equipped with state-of-the art aircraft and firepower.

Initially, Blake operated out of the Nation of Hollywood, but after several successful contracts with the likes of Hughes and Lockheed, the fledgling security firm had offices across North America.

During the company's formative years, Blake was embroiled in a series of conflicts with several notorious pirates: the Black Swan, Lady Kali, and a host of lesser pirate luminaries. In order to bolster his company's finances, Blake began authorizing "official" tales of his exploits. Soon "Paladin Blake" was the subject of films, radio dramas, comic books (and, of course, stories in Spicy Air Tales).

In these wildly-successful fictionalized accounts of his escapades, Blake invariably appears to be resourceful, tough and honorable. While Blake's detractors deride such characterization as blatant public relations posturing, his supporters swear that Paladin exhibits all those qualities. When the chips are down, Blake watches out for his own.

In 1937, Blake and BAS were caught up in the conflict between the Fortune Hunters and Sacred Trust Incorporated. The Fortune Hunters attacked a number of prominent BAS targets, including the Boeing/Hughes airfield in Pacifica and destroying the BAS Light Carrier-class zeppelin Promised Land. These failures by BAS were well-publicised, and a number of high-profile clients switched to the up-and-coming Sacred Trust. However, Blake and the Fortune Hunters were able to reveal the connection betweeen Sacred Trust, the Black Hats pirate gang and Lucas Miles. Sacred Trust was then shut down, and a number of its senior officers imprisoned for air piracy and tax evasion.

Appearances

 * The Case of the Phantom Prototype